11 RESOLUTION ON WORLD ZAKAT FORUM (WZF) CONFERENCE

Published: 22 March 2017

JAKARTA - World Zakat Forum (WZF) Conference has been completed at the Sari Pan Pacific Hotel Jakarta, the conference was held on 14 to 16 March 2017. Representatives from 16 countries attended the WZF Conference to select candidates for the new board and discussing about zakat. WZF conference this year has spawned 11 Resolution on WZF 2017.

Elected Secretary General of WZF, Mr. Bambang Sudibyo who is also known as the chairman of BAZNAS said the new administration will work hard to expand and multiply WZF member states. It will also work with clear targets.

“We utilize WZF to learn from other countries, such like Malaysia which turn out with their developed and succesfully zakat management, we need to learn a lot from Malaysia and other countries”, said Mr. Bambang to Republika.co.id after the closing ceremony of WZF on 16 March 2017.

BAZNAS member, Mrs. Nana Mintarti added, there is an issue that will be appointed by WZF which in line with the world target, that is Zakat on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It’s caused all along before zakat has been committing to the poverty eradication issue.

However, after the WZF 2017 all the member will try to focus to reach some of SDGs target. Zakat is assessed can support SDGs Program achievement. As known before, zakat was much more focus to the normative issue. In the future, zakat will take a part to the SDGs goals.

“I think we all hope in the future WZF will play the strategic role in the United Nations” she said.

The 11 points of WZF Resolution came into the forum among other: First, WZF will be strengthened by all the member. WZF is the container to set a joint agenda in order to increase the wisdom, professionality, and zakat empowerment.

Second, all the member agreed to create a concrete action in order to improve global welfare by strengthening the role of zakat to reduce poverty in their respective countries. Third, the members recognized that poverty is not only financial problems, but also the challenge of mindset and behaviour. Therefore it become the ummah (people) responsibility through amil agencies to implement a comprehensive approach to improve the welfare of the mustahik (recipients).

Forth, the members agreed to condemned all kind of injustice and human wickedness as like Rohingya tragedy and any other tragedy in the world, and also calling out for the real action to the international level to solve these cases. Fifth, SDGs as the indicator of global welfare could be combined effort with the zakat in order to increase the people welfare. So that it needs further discussion about SDGs implementation achievement.

Sixth, good zakat management needs support through the indicators that meet the measurement standard to assess and evaluate zakat performance. Thus the WZF members agreed the importance of developing indicators as reference regarding to this needs.

Seventh, the WZF members agreed to create the organization framework and zakat policy in order to embody zakat empowerment. Eighth, the members agreed to intensify the promotion of global zakat cooperation in order to optimalize zakat potention to solving the targets and eradicate the poverty together, in between learning and sharing the idea.

Ninth, to push the researches and studies from modern perspective by the researcher, to eradicate the current zakat issues. Among others is the possibility to utilize zakat fund to establish zakat corporation, world zakat foundation, and world Islamic welfare foundation.

Tenth, to establish the International Zakat Council for the ulama (theologian) educational, wakf (endowment), and zakat. The aim is to spread zakat and wakf message and also to raise up the concern of Muslim ummah in order to optimalize zakat and wakf potention.

Eleventh, WZF calling upon the Muslim countries and international community to set the action particularly related to zakat in order to streamline and spread the role of WZF to strengthen the cooperation of global zakat in effort to reach the goals.